Google Webmaster Tools (Google Search Console) / Google Sitemap

Verifying your site with Google's Webmaster Tools give you access to all kinds of cool stuff, and lets you submit a sitemap to improve your SEO!

Here's how to do it.

Verifying your site

1. Go to Google's Webmaster Tools and login using your Google account. (You can create one if you don't yet have one.) Once logged in, in the upper right, click "Add a Site".

2. Enter your custom domain, such as "www.domain.com". Be sure your domain is already linked to your Strikingly site! Or you can enter your site's Strikingly.com URL such as example.strikingly.com if you don't have a custom domain linked to it.

3. Now you'll be asked to verify that you own this domain! Click either the "Recommended method" or "Alternate methods" and select the "HTML tag" option. Copy the code provided.

4. In a new browser tab, go to the Strikingly site editor. Go to Settings -> Advanced -> Services . To add the code to your Strikingly site, only paste the last part of the code from the meta tag. Make sure to publish the changes. Here's how it looks like:

<meta name="google-site-verification" content="String_we_ask_for">

- the String_we_ask_for is what you need to copy and paste in the "Google Site Verification" field.

5. Return to the Google Webmaster Tools page and click "Verify". You should now have access to Webmaster Tools!

Submitting a sitemap

1. Once you're in you site's Webmaster Tools page in Google, click "Sitemaps".

2. Click "Add/Test Sitemap".

3. Enter "sitemap.xml" in the text box that appears. The sitemap.xml file is automatically generated for your Strikingly site! This sitemap tells Google more about your site in Google's own way of communicating.

NOTE: When you are trying to enter your site to Google Webmaster's tool make sure to use your www subdomain i.e. www.yourdomain.com and NOT the naked domain yourdomain.com

If you are having trouble, it is possible that you did not hit "publish" on your site. This causes Google to say that there is no sitemap found.

That's it! Enjoy your Webmaster Tools and improved SEO! Keep in mind that this maytake a day or more to take effect.

In case you need assistance, shoot us a line at support@strikingly.com or chat with us.